Bowser
Bowser, sometimes known as King Koopa (Japanese: 大魔王クッパ, Daimaō Kuppa or "Great Demon King Koopa"), is the main antagonist of the Mario series and the King of the Koopa. Biography Appearance Bowser is a huge, burly, green-shelled Koopa with spikes, horns, and hair. His bushy eyebrows and mane are fittingly a bright, fiery red-orange and has bright red eyes. He sports two small horns, many spikes on his shell (similar to a Spiny) with brown-orange spike-rings, as well as along his tail (minus the spike-rings). He wears several spiked collars around his neck and arms. He has three claws on each of his massive padded feet, which support his impressive girth. He has three claw-tipped fingers and a thumb on each hand, and his arms are noticeably burly, indicating his vast physical strength. While his face and his shell are green, his underbelly and snout are flesh-colored (occasionally depicted as being closer to tan or even yellow), and his tail and limbs are an orange-tinged yellow. The exact coloration of Bowser's head varies depending on the media: while official 2D artwork and most of his in-game appearances have his head and shell match in color, the majority of the official 3D artwork, trailers, merchandise as well as Mario & Luigi games show him with a light green head, similar to Bowser Jr.'s appearance. Bowser's appearance is based upon a combination of the many species of Koopa, including Koopa Troopas, Spinies, and Hammer Bros. According to Prima's Super Mario Galaxy guide, the appearance of Bowser and the Koopas are also based on kappa of Japanese mythology, although this has not been officially stated by Shigeru Miyamoto. Personality When Bowser was created, he was a typical villain without much personality beyond simply wanting to take over the Mushroom Kingdom. Later games started showing various different aspects of Bowser's character, depending on the nature of the plot. While his platformer role continues to be that of a simple antagonist, his Mario Party antics typically being more angry, childish, and mischievous than dangerous, and his portrayals in the RPGs ranging from a threatening, yet humorous villain to a playable anti-hero. Even when Bowser is acting as a protagonist in a game, however, he continues to insist he is an evil character, and his reasons for helping the protagonists are typically selfish. Bowser's personality is explored most extensively in the various RPGs, starting with the first one, Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, in which Bowser loses his castle to a greater villain. As well as the grief he expresses over his castle, Bowser is shown to be as sad as the other playable characters about Geno's body breaking down, and at one point, his boasting takes the form of a haiku. As in later RPGs, however, most of Bowser's actions in the game are self-centered, with his motivation for joining the heroes solely being to reclaim his stolen castle and prevent another villain from taking over the world that he himself desires. This reasoning is also behind Bowser's alliance with Mario and the others in Super Paper Mario, after the somewhat oblivious Koopa is reminded that he can't conquer anything if the other villain's plans to destroy all worlds comes to fruition. While Bowser is shown to take pride in his villainy and boasts of being a quality "final boss" throughout the adventure, he seemingly sacrifices himself to save Mario and the others, and even argues with his rival O'Chunks to save himself while Bowser held the crumbling roof above them (although it is later revealed that they both survived). He is also shown to be as horrified as the others when witnessing the Sammer's Kingdom's destruction, a sharp contrast to his attitude in the Super Mario Galaxy platformers, where he is willing to create his own galaxy at the expense of the universe. Sprites Gallery BowserNSMBWii.png|New Super Mario Bros. Wii Category:Characters Category:Super Mario Bros. Category:Playable Characters Category:Non-human Characters Category:Male Characters Category:Evil Characters Category:M.U.G.E.N Category:Neutral Characters Category:Characters Who Debuted in 1985 Category:M.U.G.E.N: Ultimate All-Stars Wiki Category:Super Smash Bros. Category:Super Smash Bros. Melee Characters Category:Super Smash Bros. Brawl Characters Category:Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U Characters